8.5A
Ruth: Now,
I must say, I hate people being late. I always try to arrive exactly on time,
myself. I think it's very rude to be late. Don't you, Florence?
Florence: Mmmm… My friends are
quite often late. Personally, I think you should arrive within an hour of the
time that you were invited. But some of my friends are much later than that.
But I think the most important thing is to stay in touch and let the person
know if you're going to be late. Just send a text or… whatever. Then it's not
such a problem, hopefully.
Ruth: Well,
I must say, it's a problem for me.
Florence: Mmmm… Hm. I'll bear that
in mind when I'm meeting you next time, Gran. I'll make sure I'm not late. I
don't want to get into trouble.
8.5B
Florence: Mmm… When we meet, we
generally hug each other. I mean… it depends. If it's one of my close female
friends then we kiss each other but if it's someone you don't know so well, but
someone who's still… you know, a friend… you hug each other.
Ruth: Boys
too?
Florence: Sure. Why not?
Ruth: When
I was young, people would just say
'hello' or shake hands if they hadn't
seen each other for a long time. But now there's a lot more kissing, it
seems to me. Most people kiss each other on the cheek. Once, usually, though
some people kiss on both cheeks and… It's all a bit confusing, really. Of
course of my age never kiss each other. If anything, they shake hands. They
would definitely never hug or kiss
each other. Oh, I can't imagine your Grandpa kissing his friends!
8.5C
Florence: Ahh… I think on the
first date, the guy pays, generally speaking. But I think the woman should
definitely offer to pay. After that, it kind of depends who's got the most
money, don't you think? I mean if you're both poor students, you probably share
the bill. But if one person's got a job and the other one hasn't, then I think
the person with money should pay, or at least they should pay more often.
Ruth: Mmmm… In my day, the man always paid. People expected it.
The man would be embarrassed if he didn't pay in a restaurant. But then of
course, it's a very long time since I've been on a date, so what do I know?
8.5D
Ruth: Now,
this is something I must say I feel very strongly about. To me, it's the height
of rudeness to have a conversation on your mobile phone while you're out with
other people. It's just bad manners! You should give all your attention to the
people you are with. I think you should definitely switch your mobile phone off.
But of course, I'm probably old-fashioned.
Florence: Personally, if I'm with other people in a
restaurant or something, I always switch my phone to vibrate.
Otherwise you have phones ringing all night and it's really annoying. But,
yeah, I answer my calls and answer my text messages, well, you know,
discretely.
Ruth: Do
you? Oh.
Florence: I mean, I do agree with you in a way. I've got one
or two friends who just text all evening long and we all tease them about how
boring they are. But I don't think anyone's seriously offended, really. It's
just the way it is these days, Gran.
Ruth: Mmmm.
8.5E
Ruth: Well,
of course, I was always taught that you should a hand-written note and you
should send it the very next day. But I suppose that's all very old-fashioned
now.
Florence: Hm Hm
Hmmm Not many people of my age send hand-written notes,
I must say. But I would always post something on someone's Facebook wall. You
know, 'Thanks a lot for last night'. We do still have manners, you know.
Ruth: Of
course. It's
just all so different these days.